[Game Thread] Chapter One: Seeds of Rebellion

[ArcaneJazz]

A knight of Anora? Venem fought hard to supress a reaction to this statement, but managed to maintain his serene, quiet expression. He had to remind himself, Knights are not Royal Guards. He wouldn't be one of them... Unless it was a disguise... But we can't make any assumptions. The knight asked a fair enough question, though it was one that did not apply to him. For Venem, there was no normal life to return to. Lyonna was his world now.

"These are fair questions," he began, "And I believe what we are all thinking to ask as well is, 'how do we know this is not a trap?' Lyonna and are I are just travelling priests, beggars really. But I'm sure others of you have family or other loved ones to worry about. The king may have many eyes, but so do the streets. I've seen myself how these ambushes work." Though he was sitting casually, Venem was always ready for a fight at a moment's notice if the situation called for it. He could tell Lyonna was still really tense and unsure about this whole situation as well. But the poor elf was always like that, really.

[GLM]

Sixtus' brow furrows as well at the knight's announcement, but he quickly changes to a smile. Seemingly more at ease, he manages to say "I thought that might be the case. I'm from Anora as well. Haven't been there in years though." without any difficulty. He waits patiently while Venem says his piece, and follows up with, "W-well, clearly someone has done their research. I'm sure we all got the letter f-for a reason. And we all came, right? While it could be a trap, f-frankly, I don't think we're w-worth that much t-t-time. It's too inefficient to track down a few lone r-rabble-r-rou-r... pests in hiding and lure them to a t-tavern. If they could send you a letter, they could just as soon k-k-ki-ki. Stab you in your s-sleep." He adds an offhand, dismissive comment at the end, "The king isn't much for letters anyway." He doesn't stutter a word of it.

[Mal Radagast]

Time to make his entrance.
"Attention we can get, but which people do we wish to draw?" Stepping forward, looking to each in turn, he smiles. There is no harm in a name, now...these fellows are too honest to know how to abuse it. "Malloriendil Fawkes...professional Attention-Getter. I take it we do not wish the King's attention...or do we? Revolution is a most delicate art." Several pairs of eyes narrow, and the performer sighs. "Of course I have not myself performed one...yet there are tales, and there are histories, and there are my own thoughts - which have always tended toward the rebellious...if not the political." Mal paces, as if speaking to himself, though he glances up now and again. "Knowledge is the key, and subtlety - how to know everything and yet give nothing away. Most of the people we wish to draw shall be of no use to us - indeed, they will be liabilities - and yet, a revolution must be made of people. Also, the King is no fool; he will hear, he will know..." The pacing continues as the words trail away. He looks up, and around - puts a finger to his lips, tapping, thoughtful. Fool... "Well, we can come to that in time. Let me see where you run with this, before I make my decisions."

[L0stTh0ught]

Corbin stared at the pacing man a little incredulously, like he was trying to explain the simplest idea through a complex means,
"No offense good sir, but the easiest way to attract attention, especially the kind we want, is by example! We demonstrate what it is we are attempting to accomplish, and the people 'we want' as you say, will flock to us when they realize that we are capable of achieving it. If possible, we might even want to ask some of the soldiers in the army stationed here if they want to join. I'm living proof that even a soldier can get fed up with their king. The real issue is winning the hearts and minds of the common folk, they need to know and understand that what we are doing if for the good of all, and not seen as a mere petty grab for power. It is there that I believe you'll find your talents the most useful. If we can accomplish this, not only will we stand a better chance of succeeding, but our rebellion will be able to weather any storm the king may throw at us."

[Mal Radagast]

Arching one elfin brow, Mal offers a wry smile. "As simple as that, is it? My mistake." His lips twitch.

[ArcaneJazz]

Shifting in his chair and leaning forward, Venem decided to chime in. "Actually, there is merit to both ideas. We need to set an example for people to follow. But even doing so in peaceful ways in public can get you killed..."

He reflected, only for a moment, on memories of his childhood. A house in flames... "A boastful show of opposition will bring the royal guard on us. So the issue is, how do we sow the seeds of rebellion among the populace, without drawing the attention of the King's spies?"

Life was so much simpler before tonight. No, he couldn't accept that. He couldn't let his parents' deaths be in vain. He was here, and he was ready to do whatever it took. After a moment, a he added, "How about satire? You seem to be a performer, Fawkes. Perhaps humorous jabs at the King in songs would begin to take the edge off of how people perceive him?" It would be a slow start, but who knows?

[GLM]

"B-but how many people will see or hear that performance? It's a starttt, but we need something...bi-big."

Sixtus pauses for a moment, and digs a few fingers into his chin. "Forgive me, I...I am unfamiliar with this town. But is there a prison? Freeing l-like minded folks would go a long way, and certainly s-send a message. It will bring on the R-royal Guard. But...it's not a r-rebellion without con-con-confrontation." He pauses again, the creases in his forehead deepening as he thinks about what he just said. "You want to win hearts & minds? D-defeating the R-royal Guard would go a long way, it would show everyone that it's even p-possible."His words start to pick up speed as his mind runs over the idea. He starts speaking quickly, fast enough to outrun his stutter."And if we know they will come...we can prepare. I can find out how they will arrive, that's easy enough. How many do you think they'd send to deal with a prison break? 100? 500? And then you get the former prisoners to recruit their friends, and arm them...then it comes down to spreading the news." Sixtus scratches at his hair, and his face twists a bit, as if he can't believe the words that are coming out of his own mouth.

[Omega Phalanx]

As Sixtus spoke his mind, the farmer's eyebrow raised as though he had been struck by an epiphany. "I believe you're on to something here Sixtus. If we were to free those who were imprisoned for having spoken against the king, we could already count those people in to join our cause. I suggest we take a more subtle approach however in freeing them. Escaping quietly with just a few prisoners at a time would put the guards on alert, but keep the Royal Guard away from us. If we launch a full scale prison break no doubt the Royal Guard would be within the city limits in a matter time, leaving us disorganized and ill-prepared. If we can free some people without raising too much suspicion however, they might only send a few investigators, or simply increase security around the prison. Once we have a sizeable amount of troops, then we could attempt something a bit more large scale..."

He paused for a minute, realizing that the masquerade of being a mere farmer had undoubtedly been shattered by his interpretation of the situation. "I suppose I should introduce myself as well considering it's clear now that we all have a common goal in mind." He gave what could be taken as a slight sinister smile, taking off his hat and placing it on the table, revealing messy dark brown hair that faded to blonde at the top. "My name is Osiris Silverflame. I've lived here for the better part of my life, but I haven't really been involved personally with matters concerning the king, up until now anyways..." He trailed off in his story, aware that the time for introductions was over. His eyes narrowed as he came back on the subject. "If we do plan on doing this, were going to be very quiet. The last thing we want is for them to recognize our faces before we've even had the chance to free a single person."

[GLM]

Sixtus nods emphatically. "Hmmm. W-well, Osiris, I, I think you have a point. Start s-small. Are there two or three t-townsfolk that are l-leaders who have spoken out? We start there. Free the right people f-first. I think this approach also meets Fawkes' 'hearts and minds' and Corbin's example criteria...the right people will mean a lot to the community, and the example of freeing them is a g-good one. S-so, is there a prison? I-i could..." he starts getting a bit more nervous and a bit flushed, "p-probably identify the r-right person, you know...or figure out which cell..." he trails off, as if saying much more will be met with disbelief or worse.

[kageneko]

Your host merely sits back, content to listen as his Lady's hopes were starting to become reality right in front of him. He smiles wryly to himself and adds. I'm glad you're all committed to our cause, but we need to find you a place to lay low, somewhere to plan from before we go springing prisoners or anything. I would let you stay here, but it would be far too easy to find you, and this place wouldn't exactly hold that many people. As he speaks he draws a map from the case on his hip and spreads it onto the table. The map shows the city and the area around it, and as well as the normal notations indicating major street names and points of interest, several buildings and areas outside of the city are circled. Each of these sites would be perfect for our purposes, its just a matter of picking your first hideout.

 

I purposefully left out what the sites were, feel free to invent something ^_^

[ArcaneJazz]

Venem was in good company. Sure, he wanted to put the King to justice, for personal reasons as well as for the good of Arenoth, but he didn't really have the mind for underhanded tactics, which this situation would call for. He was a warrior and a peacemaker, and would gladly aid his new allies. These were great ideas though, breaking into the prison would be simple enough to pull off. Finding the right captives and escaping would be a different matter, though...

He looks at the map the dwarf pulls out and smiles, seeing exactly what he expected. "Excuse me," he began, "I can recognize all these locations, and they seem fine, but you missed one over here..." Venem points to a spot on the map, roughly between two of the other locations, but a bit further out. By the map, it seemed like nothing but mountains. "There is an old Church of Pelor here, that's been long forgotten as well. You cant even see it until you're right on it, it was built right into a cliff face. It's beautiful really... But I suggest it because in older times, they would have large outdoor services, and they built an enormous space inside for when the weather gets bad. One of the walls are even lined with bunk beds. You could house an army in there, really."

[Preacher]

Korban arose as he looked over the map, inspecting its possibilities. He reached in over the table and planted his finger on a certain spot. It read The Old Mormon Tower and was encircled as a point of interest outside of the city.

"Or here," Korban said, "It's a place most folk steer clear off. Said to be haunted. And it would be a good place to defend, if it should come to that." The Old Mormon Tower had once been a watchtower of the city, but now it was left and barren, its garrison no longer having the need of its vantage point. It was built upon a hilltop, the bottom of the tower allowing visitors to go inside the hill. The past builders had made it so that the natural hill became a part of the tower. It was roughly 2 miles from the city, surrounded by marshland and swampy grounds.

[Omega Phalanx]

Osiris' face turned to perplexion as he saw where Venem pointed. He had often gone to the mountains there to meditate but had never crossed the path of the so called abandoned temple. "Odd... I've never even crossed it during my own excursions in the mountains. It must be very well hidden then." Studying the map a bit more intently, he recognized a small body of water which he had visited that was in the same vicinity as the temple. "If I remember this correctly, there's a small lake located just around here," he says, while pointing just next to where Venem had indicated, "and it just so happens that the only to access it is through a very narrow tunnel. When I visited that place I had noticed another tunnel that lead further up the mountain, quite possibly in the direction of your invisible temple. If that's the case, we could easily set up a garrison there, and the natural cave system would help funnel enemy troops should they ever come our way..."

As Korban explained that the temple he spoke of was haunted, Osiris began smiling. "The spirit world is one that is heavily misunderstood, my friend. I have a rather special connection with it myself actually. Should the place actually be haunted, as you so put it, I could find the location of these spirits and rid the place of any undesirables."

[GLM]

After a brief scan of the map, Sixtus pulls his pack out from under his seat, and peers into it, pulling out some old dusty book. After leafing through a few pages, he stuffs it back into the pack and nods. He's clearly a bit calmer now, and his stutter has diminished greatly. "The tower sounds like a g-good option." He points to some other spots, though, just for the sake of making sure as many spots could be accounted for and explained as possible. "Some old, abandoned gem mines to the w-west of the city here...not very comfortable, and a bit of a climb up, but very unlikely to be searched. And this..." he points to a spot to the north. "An old Ilamorian noble's hunting lodge. Stripped clean by the invaders some 40 years ago, but probably still standing. Was quite the rustic palace, housed large expeditions who hunted in these woods. I-I like s-sound of the tower myself, but it's something else to keep in mind."

[L0stTh0ught]

"Do we really have to pick one? The best way to lose your enemy, is to keep him guessing. Every month or so, we could pack up, and move to the next location. At the very least, we should have the other safe houses available in case of an emergency"